Over 100 Killed in Weekend Afghan Fighting, 30 Troops Missing

Battles rage in several provinces

The May 1 pullout date passed, and saw US troops still in Afghanistan, and heavy fighting between Taliban and Afghan military forces in several parts of the country. The Afghan Defense Ministry reported that they’d killed over 100 Taliban in 24 hours, but didn’t report on the military’s own casualties.

The Taliban didn’t comment on this, but the Afghan Defense Ministry reported clashes in Kandahar and several other provinces around the country. The Taliban itself wasn’t just on the defensive, and hit an Afghan military outpost in Ghazni.

The Taliban hit the outpost early on Saturday, and overran it outright. 11 were reported killed in the fighting there, and at least 30 more soldiers who had been stationed at the outpost are missing. It’s not clear what happened.

The Taliban did not comment on the Ghazni fighting either, an unusual lack of statements for a weekend in which a lot of fighting happened. The Taliban’s main statement was that fighting would continue beyond May 1 since the US didn’t leave.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.